The Cleveland Indians announced Friday morning that Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco suffered a deep contusion to his right elbow and forearm after being hit with a line drive on Thursday night. He is listed as day to day.

It's always good to see your first round picks leading the way down on the farm. Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor played pivotal roles in leading the Carolina Mudcats Thursday, flashing the potential that makes them both top prospects in the organization. You never want to see players hurt, however, and Cleveland saw two of their better pitchers injured in Columbus. To help make sense of all that went on, join Andrew Zajac, as he goes Around The Farm...

In this week’s second edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the hot start that Akron first baseman Chun Chen is off to, what has changed with his approach, and when he may get to Columbus (or Cleveland). He also has a ton of comments from the front office regarding the Columbus roster on things such as the presence of so many six-year free agents as well as the plans for Carlos Carrasco and others. Finally, he touches on the return of Austin Adams and Trey Haley, the release of Delvi Cid and who may be replacing him, the blistering bat of Jerrud Sabourin, the potential of Dylan Baker and much more.

Wednesday night was a cold and wet one in Northeast Ohio, as anyone who braved the weather to catch a ballgame can attest. Despite this, a few players found a way to overcome the weather, including Akron designated hitter Chun Chen, Columbus starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, and others. Jim Piascik was one of those who froze last night (as he watched the Aeros hold on to a 5-4 victory) and he will recap the night in the minor leagues as he takes you Around The Farm.

The Akron Aeros completed a three-game series against the Trenton Thunder with a 5-4 win and some contributions at the plate from Chun Chen. Right-hander Toru Murata (1-2, 2.60) took the bump to counter Trenton righty Caleb Cotham (1-1, 4.85). The Thunder struck first in the form of a solo home run off the bat of catcher Kyle Higashioka in the second inning.

The Aeros continued to stay at the bottom of the Eastern League over the past week as they lost four of seven and fell to 6-12. The youth and inexperience that makes the team exciting to watch from a prospect standpoint is the culprit for the losing, as most of the players are at the Double-A level for the first time. There were still plenty of noteworthy performances, however, especially a competition between two dueling aces. For all that and more, join Jim Piascik as he Launches Off With The Aeros.

We settle in with the first Tuesday edition of Minor Happenings of the season today, and with that comes a pretty large update on several players in the system. Tony breaks down the encouraging start to the season by lefty T.J. House, how he has looked, what he needs to work on, and what the rest of the season may hold for him. In addition to that he has several comments and insight from the front office on players such as Jerrud Sabourin, Joey Wendle, Shawn Morimando, Bryson Myles, Rob Whitenack and more as well as a litany of injury updates on players such as LeVon Washington, Mason Radeke, Alex Monsalve, and more.

One thing is certain for the 2013 Akron Aeros. Every game so far has been, well, entertaining. That was little consolation for the Aeros Monday night, when they spotted the Trenton Thunder a seven-run head start, and ended up losing a high-octane shootout, 13-8, at Canal Park. The Aeros were hoping to build on the momentum of a win over Bowie on Sunday. The young Yankees prospects on the Thunder, however, had other ideas.

It is Monday, and that means it is time to review some of the hot and some not so hot performances from the past week in the Indians' system. In this week's Hot List, Tony looks at a few starting pitching options in the upper levels of the system with the likes of Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, T.J. House and Danny Salazar that could soon be in Cleveland, the red hot bats of Logan Vick, Eric Haase, Giovanny Urshela, some concerns about Tyler Naquin, and much more.

The Bowie Baysox sent one of the best pitching prospects in baseball to the mound as they looked to sweep the Akron Aeros Sunday at Canal Park. Akron starting pitcher T.J. House decided he was just not going to let that happen. The Aeros (6-11) defeated the Baysox (10-8) by the score of 7-2, avoiding their fourth straight loss. Akron finally managed to keep the Bowie bats in check after allowing 62 runs to the Baysox in seven games this season.

AKRON, OH -- For eight innings, the Akron Aeros got the elite pitching they had been missing so far in their series against the Bowie Baysox. Unfortunately for the Aeros, they needed one more inning. The Aeros (5-11) lost their third straight game to the Baysox (10-7) Saturday at Canal Park, losing 8-1 as they blew the game in the top of the ninth.

In a back and forth affair, the Bowie Baysox took advantage of late inning mistakes by the Aeros, trouncing them 13-5. The Aeros made several errors and they proved costly as they fell to 5-10 on the season.

Thursday was a busy day Around The Farm, headlined by some offensive fireworks in Akron. The Aeros' offense was clicking on all cylinders, with players like Chris Wallace and Carlos Moncrief knocking the ball around the park. No one was bigger than Chun Chen, however, who finally answered the question everyone has been asking: where is the power? Join Arthur Kinney as he recaps the night in the minor leagues and checks in on the other affiliates, after the jump...

Bowie Baysox designated hitter Caleb Joseph would like to play against the Akron Aeros all season long. In four games thus far in 2013, Joseph has 10 RBI against Akron pitching. Thursday night, he swatted a pair of homers and a double to drive in four runs and lead the Baysox to a wild, 13-11, 10-inning victory over the Aeros in the opener of a four-game series at Canal Park.

Today’s Happenings focus in on the hot start of High-A Carolina second baseman Joey Wendle and Triple-A Columbus right-handed pitcher Fernando Nieve. How much is Wendle rising up the prospect ranks? Could Nieve be an option in Cleveland? Tony touches on that and also looks at the impressive approach that Low-A Lake County first baseman Nellie Rodriguez is showing, the clutch performance of Double-A Akron first baseman Jesus Aguilar, and much more on players like Tim Fedroff, Chun Chen, Owen Dew, Ryan Merritt and more.

When you think of the prototypical baseball player, a few images probably come to mind: tall, muscular, fast, top physical condition, etc. In other words, baseball players are not supposed to look like you, me, and Jose Ramirez. Ramirez is roughly my size at 5’9”, 165 pounds and generally does not fit the stereotype of a baseball player, but the IBI's Jim Piascik loves his potential and recently had a chance to sit down and talk with him about his success to date.

The Akron Aeros headlined the action down on the farm last night, as Tyler Holt, Giovanny Urshela, Jesus Aguilar, and friends headed an offensive charge that led to 10 runs and a win. The Lake County Captains also won, somehow scoring seven runs on five hits (only one of which went for extra bases). Columbus and Carolina lost thanks to some suspect pitching, but there were still encouraging performances to enjoy. Join Jim Piascik as he takes you through the good and the bad as he goes Around The Farm.

Jesus Aguilar cracked a pair of two-run singles Wednesday afternoon, leading the Akron Aeros to a 10-6 victory over the Trenton Thunder at Arm and Hammer Park.
The second of Aguilar’s big hits came in the top of the ninth inning off Dannny Burawa (1-1), and snapped a 6-6 tie. With the bases loaded, Aguilar smoked a Burawa pitch back through the middle and into center field, scoring Tyler Holt and Jose Ramirez to make it 8-6.

The "Radar Report" returns this week, and Tony shares almost three dozen radar readings from players in the Indians' system that he has recorded over the past few weeks. This is a premium site feature which will post about once a month and provide the fastball - and at times the secondary velocities - and in this report he has the readings on several players such as Cody Anderson, Dillon Howard, Dylan Baker, Jacob Lee, Mitch Brown, Shawn Armstrong, Trevor Bauer, and almost 30 others.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!